MAIKAL HAD never ridden any kind of animal.  There was nothing on Lhonz 4 to ride, and so there had never been any way to prepare for the situation which was likely to occur.

But he learned quickly.  The first thing he learned was that riding a long distance without having practice was a sure way to have a sore posterior.  But he had decided that whatever his hosts did he would have to do, and he didn't complain, although once or twice he wondered whether they might be waiting for him to say something so that they could stop for rest.

The party was made up of the Lord m'Ertzt, the soothsayer, and a dozen soldiers and packers.  There were half a dozen animals loaded with food and equipment.  That seemed to indicate that the trip would take some time to make.

They rode for half of the day before they stopped the first time.  There were no complaints from anyone.  Even the soothsayer, who seemed stiffer than Maikal from the ride, kept quiet, although he grimaced every time he moved.

Maikal began to feel that he was involved in a contest of pride.

He realized that their silence might be the result of the kind of discipline required for a minority to impose its will on the majority of the population for one hundred generations.

They stopped at an especially pleasant point on the plain, the ancient lake bed dotted with occasional hillocks.  The mountains, to which they were traveling, were far away.  They stopped on a small, broad mound and the animals were allowed to graze under the guard of a packer while another man prepared a lunch over a fire made of brush naturally soaked in gum that seemed to burn well.

The plain itself was grassy, and brush and small trees were growing near the hillocks.  The grass had a deep reddish-blue color.  The place seemed to be colorful, but anything would be colorful compared to Lhonz 4, Maikal thought, where everything was pastel or brown, usually some version of the latter.